# Same image for QEMU and Raspberry Pi

**URL:** <https://hub.mender.io/t/same-image-for-qemu-and-raspberry-pi/8146>\
**Category:** General Discussions\
**Tags:** raspberry-pi-3, raspberry-pi-4, qemu, qemux86-64\
**Created:** [December 18, 2025, 11:25am UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/same-image-for-qemu-and-raspberry-pi/8146 "2025-12-18T11:25:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![pratish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@pratish](https://hub.mender.io/u/pratish)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 11:25am UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/same-image-for-qemu-and-raspberry-pi/8146/1 "2025-12-18T11:25:20Z")

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I am trying to build an image that supports both QEMU (For testing purposes before actual update rollouts) and actual hardware (Raspberry pi 3 or Intel NUC devices). I have tried using yocto project but facing difficulties in running it on QEMU.

**Encountered repeated storage issues**

- Boot gets stuck waiting for:

1. sda1 / vda1
2. sda4 / vda4
3. Drops to a shell.
4. Fails to mount A/B partitions properly.

- Indicates problems with partition layout or Mender’s expected partition names not matching the actual device.

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**Author:** ![TheYoctoJester](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/hub.mender.io/theyoctojester/32/1444_2.png) [@TheYoctoJester](https://hub.mender.io/u/TheYoctoJester)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 2:19pm UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/same-image-for-qemu-and-raspberry-pi/8146/2 "2025-12-18T14:19:05Z")

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Hi @pratish,

Thanks for reaching out! However that usually is not easily possible. The reasons are - depending on the combination, one or more might apply:

- storage names do not match. `mmcblkX` from SD/eMMC on ARM, `vda` on QEMU using virtio, `sda` on QEMU using ide/sata/scsi.
- instruction set architectures do not match: ARM on Raspberry Pi, X86 on NUCs
- QEMU does not necessarily emulate specific boards like the RPi (to be fair, it almost never does!)
- different drivers required, different device trees, and so on

So in summary: no, this is not easily possible in the generic way. There might be very specific combinations of virtualized+board platforms which work, but definitely not in a general, freely choosable way.

Greetz,  
Josef

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**Author:** ![pratish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@pratish](https://hub.mender.io/u/pratish)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 2:35pm UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/same-image-for-qemu-and-raspberry-pi/8146/3 "2025-12-18T14:35:52Z")

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Hi @TheYoctoJester, thanks for the update. So is it possible that we forget about the Raspberry Pi and have an Intel NUC supported image that can also run on QEMU ? If yes, any insight that in which direction should I look would be very helpful.